Category: Movie Review

Emmy says:
The dancing in this was incredible. Absolutely outstanding. Costumes and sets were well utilised and had the feel of 1970’s Berlin. The story had me feeling like a confused bystander only catching parts of each plot line. Did not understand anyone’s motivation. Does make me want to see the original. 7/10.

Jeff says:
I was not particularly interested in seeing this, but I knew Emmy would. Horror and dancing were always going to win. It had both, and both were done very well. The story was lacking an explanation (that I believe was given in the sequels to the original). Remaking Dario Argento’s work was always going to be challenging and they did a very good job. Not easy to watch, not easy to understand, but easy to appreciate the talent that went into making it. 7/10.

Emmy says:
I enjoyed the details put into each of the beasts and their interactions with the world. A lot of tie-ins to the HP series, not that they added any value. Feels like the middle act and not a stand alone movie. 8/10.

Jeff says:
The film opened with a sequence that was so full of blur, motion, and CG that it was hard to tell what was happening. Sadly, that was not an aberration. Bad camera work (shaky cam at times there was no reason for it), little plot, and no reason (apart from exposition for all the links to names we know from Harry Potter). The main characters were still people I could care about, and the creatures were cool, but sadly I couldn’t say either about the story. 6/10.

Emmy says:
I’m glad this didn’t take itself too seriously as I doubt it could stand up to the first. Having said that the style employed allowed for taking a back seat and enjoying the spectacle, no matter how predictable parts were. 7/10.

Jeff says:
Big dumb rock-em sock-em film. Expect that and you’ll have a good time. The problem with movies like this, Transformers, and superhero movies … is you need the spectacle (meaning buildings toppling) but too many people ‘at risk’ and you’re going to seem heartless. Batman vs. Superman ended up in an abandoned port area; Transformers just destroyed cities; Next Gen had the fight be ‘robots’ (so it wasn’t ‘life’ at risk). Here, “everyone” evacuated to underground bunkers so it was ‘fine’ to destroy Toyko. I happen to disagree – Tokyo doesn’t deserve the number of monsters trashing it in films. Still, this movie is not the stylish del Toro film the first one was. It followed the path of Aliens: bigger, sillier, with an obnoxious kid at the centre of it all. I’m not sure I buy a 15 year old building her own Jaeger without being noticed, sorry. It was fun though. 7/10.

Emmy says:The Beauty of this movie is in the sets and costumes. The story didn’t take me where the trailer had me expecting, still it was enjoyable and satisfying. Jump scares galore, though used against the protagonist and not the viewer, definitely gave me a new perspective of them. 7/10.

Jeff says:I’m not sure what I expected this movie to be, but it wasn’t this. This is not a bad thing – the movie was rather well done. It reminds me a lot of Crimson Peak, but that could just the be the similarity of ‘haunted house period drama’. Sets and costumes were fantastic, the cast was excellent (lots of Australians, weirdly, but it was a co-production with Screen Australia). I could have done with less jump scares – it got to the point of being boring – but there were some excellent moments too. The story worked, but the movie dragged a little. 7/10.

Emmy says:
I really don’t like being bashed over the head repeatedly that I’m watching a horror film. This movie spent more time and effort on the creep, the shadows and the noises than on the plot. Practical effects were good, and beautiful scenery. 5/10.

Jeff says:
I’m sorry to say this, but I was bored watching this film. The scenery was good but the main characters were making dumb decisions (my pet horror movie peeve), and the movie was too self-aware that it was trying to be “creepy”. An interesting enough idea, but not given enough time, space or plot to work effectively. 4/10.

Emmy says:
I sang and cried my way through this. A massive reminder of how much a part of my childhood Queen was. I miss you. 10/10.

Jeff says:
This movie had such a troubled production – I could write an entire article on it, but others have done it already. As a result, I didn’t have high hopes – I knew the music would be killer though. Even though I see where the dramatisation happened, and where the drama was amped-up for story, I was blown away. The band looked like Queen, they sounded like Queen. The music left me a weeping puddle. The recreation of Live Aid at Wembley Stadium was something to behold. Can Rami Malek have the Best Actor Oscar and Lady Gaga Best Actress? Two movies with incredible music, in a row, being much better than I dared hope. This was far superior to A Star is Born (2018) though. 10/10.

Emmy says:
Lady Gaga gave a stellar performance with both the acting and singing. Bradley Cooper did some great music performances, but I felt the acting was lagging. Maybe co-writing the screenplay, some of the songs, singing acting and directing was Cooper biting off more than he can chew. I certainly felt like that was a very long 2 hours. With that said, very strong ending. 7/10.

Jeff says:
Well, apart from telling us things we already know (Lady Gaga is one hell of a singer AND she can act), this movie also tells us something else: Bradley Cooper can act, he can write songs and sing, and he might even be able to direct … but he can’t do all of that at the same time. This movie flags when Cooper is the central point of the scene … and that happened a lot. It’s a pity, because the music was amazing. 7/10.

Emmy says:
Watching all these veteran actors was hilarious. Backed by an awesome soundtrack and hectic editing it was definitely a treat. The camera work was intuitive and took you through the story smoothly. 8/10.

Jeff says:
King of Thieves is a strange film. Half heist film, half police procedural, but without enough of either to form a coherent story. The apparent protagonist didn’t get the good ending, and the one who got the good ending exited before the finale. Based on a real event, it was interesting and entertaining because of the actors involved; shot well; but the story itself was confused and therefore unsatisfying. 7/10.

Emmy says:
Loved this artfully told story. The costumes were delightful. The camera work was great and used the outdoor scenery to great effect. 9/10.

Jeff says:
A classic cold war spy thriller with the twist of spy being an old lady when caught. Detailed recreation of the 30s and 40s, with the same attention to detail provided for 2000 when the framing narrative was set. It seems almost unbelievable, but this sort of thing actually did happen. A well told story. 8/10.

Emmy says:
Visually appealing with costuming and sets creating the perfect setting for the work of Dr Seuss. Great uplifting moral message delivered at the end. Unfortunately, I think I’m just too ‘woke’ to enjoy this: the bullying, discrimination and rampant consumerism is extremely uncomfortable to watch. 6/10.

Jeff says:
This was an odd one. No, we’re not giving in to early-Christmas-itis. This was a recommendation (and loaned DVD) and we wanted to make sure we returned it promptly. I’ve not seen this movie since it came out, and it’s clear that it’s still ‘The Mask’ style Jim Carrey. With a short children’s rhyming book as inspiration, there was a LOT added to fill out the running time … and intentionally or not, watching in 2018, there’s a very subversive thread in here: the Whovians are actually not especially nice. I don’t remember condescension, bullying and sexism being part of the story. Max (the dog) is probably the best part of this film. 6/10.

Emmy says:
Enjoyed the acting. The tension generated was sporadic and abated between episodes which is not how I enjoy horror. The implacable chase Michael gives in previous movies is missing from this one, oh there’s some, but the meshing with cat like movement has not been a good choice. 7/10.

Jeff says:
I’m going to start by saying: this is my third favourite Halloween movie, after Halloween H20: 20 Years Later and Halloween (1978). It had a lot of great elements to it, but it was disjointed. There were awesome riffs and callbacks to earlier films (even Halloween III: Season of the Witch) and it was great to see Jamie Lee Curtis kick ass. There always needed to be one of these films where the tables were turned on Michael – and now we have that. I suspect this is going to be the beginning and end of Continuity C, and I’m okay with that. We don’t need more Halloween … we have the movies we need. 8/10.

Emmy says:
Creative camera use with a different approach to the story made this a fun ride with a bit of cheese. 7/10.

Jeff says:
An interesting new take on the series, closer to other horror films of the day rather than the franchise it’s meant to belong to. The reality TV angle both cheapened the story but provided some creative story telling. It seems clear that the the series should have ended with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. Continuity B didn’t last long. It will be interesting to see how Continuity C shakes things up. 7/10.